Method and System for Forming a Keyword Database for Referencing Physical Locations

• US 20080288545A1
• Filed: 08/05/2008
• Published: 11/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Navteq North America LLC (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Hegedus, Ildiko, Gale, William, Kaplan, Lawrence M., Thorner, Matthias
• Granted Patent: US 8,543,617 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/104.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/343 Calculating itineraries, i.e. routes leading from a starting point to a series of categorical destinations using a global route restraint, round trips, touristic trips travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases

Abstract

An improved method and system for specifying physical locations when using applications run on navigation systems or other computer platforms that provide navigation- or map-related functions. When requesting a navigation- or map-related function from such an application, a user specifies a physical location using a keyword instead of specifying the physical location conventionally, such as by street address. A keyword database relates keywords to physical locations. The application uses the keyword database, or a copy thereof, to find data indicating the physical location associated with the keyword specified by the user. Preferably, physical locations are defined in the keyword database in terms of data in a corresponding geographic database. The application then performs the requested navigation- or map-related function using the data indicating the physical location associated with the keyword. The keyword database is built using input from users. An on-line system is provided that users can access to associate keywords with physical locations. A user accessing the on-line system is presented with a map from which a physical location can be selected. A keyword, which may be selected by the user, is associated with the selected physical location. The keyword is stored in the keyword database along with data indicating the associated physical location.

Claims

1. A keyword database that includes data regarding unique identifiers associated with physical locations that can be used for location referencing, wherein the physical locations are represented by data in a plurality of geographic databases, comprising:

a first database identifier that identifies a first geographic database that includes data representing a physical location off a road network;

a second database identifier that identifies a second geographic database that includes different data representing the physical location; and

a unique identifier that is associated with the physical location and can be used to specify the same physical location as represented in both the first and second geographic databases.

2. The keyword database of claim 1, wherein the unique identifier is randomly-generated.

3. The keyword database of claim 1, wherein the unique identifier is assigned by a provider of at least one of the first and second geographic databases.

4. The keyword database of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second database identifiers includes an identification of a geographical database vendor of at least one of the first and second geographic databases.

5. The keyword database of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second database identifiers includes an identification of a geographical database type of at least one of the first and second geographic databases.

6. The keyword database of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second database identifiers includes an identification of a geographical database name of at least one of the first and second geographic databases.

7. The keyword database of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second database identifiers includes an identification of a geographical database version number of at least one of the first and second geographic databases.

8. The keyword database of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second database identifiers includes an identification of a geographical database release date of at least one of the first and second geographic databases.

9. A method of location referencing using data contained in a database that represents geographic features in a region, wherein the location is represented by data in a plurality of geographic databases, comprising:

associating a unique identifier with an off-road location in a geographic region, wherein the location is represented by a first data set in a first geographic database and a second data set in a second geographic database; and

providing the unique identifier for specifying the same location as represented in both the first and second geographic databases.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising randomly generating the unique identifier.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising assigning the unique identifier to the location by a provider of at least one of the first and second geographic databases.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing the first geographic database from a first geographic database vendor and providing the second geographic database from a second geographic database vendor.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing the first geographic database having a first geographic database type and providing the second geographic database having a second geographic database type.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing the first geographic database having a first geographic database name and providing the second geographic database having a second geographic database name.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing the first geographic database having a first version number and providing the second geographic database having a second version number.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing the first geographic database having a first release date and providing the second geographic database having a second release date.

17. A method of facilitating specification of an off-road location by end users for obtaining navigation-related or map-related features, comprising:

associating a unique identifier with an off-road location in a geographic region; and

associating the unique identifier with access instructions for traveling from a location accessible by a vehicle to the off-road location, wherein an end user can enter the unique identifier into a navigation system to obtain the access instructions.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the off-road location is a location within an interior of a building.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the off-road location is a location located away from a road network represented in a geographic database.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the off-road location is a location located along a road not represented in a geographic database.

21. A method of location referencing using data contained in a database that represents geographic features in a region, comprising

maintaining a database that contains data that represents geographic features in a geographic region;

associating keywords with geographic locations in the geographic region, wherein each keyword is a unique number or alphanumeric string, and wherein each geographic location is defined by data that represents a position along a side of a road segment.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the data that represents a position along a side of a road segment includes a street address.

23. The method of claim 21, further including associating each keyword with geographic coordinates.